In writing to the Corinthians, Paul felt forced to compare himself with some other servants of the Lord.
He said, “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
In weariness & painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger & thirst, in fastings often, in cold & nakedness.”
From a study of the Book of Acts, we are able to determine when some of these things occurred,
But others are pure guesses.
And some people have guessed that the perils of robbers occurred on this trip from Perga to Antioch.
Bible commentaries of the 19th century say that even in their day the narrow passes that take people from the southern coast of Turkey into the interior were infested with highway men.
But Paul and Barnabas were sure that it was the will of the Lord that they preach the gospel to the people of Lystra, Derby, Iconium and Antioch, so up those dangerous roads they went.
The rest of this chapter recounts how the gospel was received in Antioch of Pisidia.
The missionaries went into the Jewish synagogue, as was their custom, and they waited for the Lord to give them an opportunity to speak to some of the people, even after the service if necessary.
But when the rulers of the synagogue invited them to exhort the entire congregation, Paul arose and began what had become a pretty common approach to presenting the gospel.
Like Stephen and others, he started with some of the history of Israel and the promises of God.
For OUR message, I’ve decided to skip over the call of Abraham, the history of the exodus and the judges.
Let’s move right into the meat of Paul’s sermon.
I’d like to compare, contrast and apply what we know about the three kings of verses 21 to 23.
Israel and Judah had a great many kings, but the first 2 and the last were among the most important.
That means that their King, or their President, had been Jehovah.
Prime Ministers are leaders in governments where there is a king or queen over them.
The Prime Minister is the first minister under the king and is supposed to take his orders from his boss.
What do you think and what do you do when no other human is looking or listening?
You know perfectly well that the Lord knows your lusts and sins, but often you go ahead anyway.
This had been prophesied centuries earlier, and as we saw in I Samuel 8, it was exposed for what it would really accomplish.
In Deuteronomy 17:14, God said, “When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me.”
Ironically in the next chapter the Lord said, “When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.”
But they were determined to do after the abominations of the heathen.
Why is it that so many Christians pick their heros from the people of the world and not from the men of God?
Why are so many Christians ten times as interested in their national elections than in serving Christ?
Why do so many Christian children want to be sports stars rather than preachers or missionaries?
Why do they want to be served rather than serve?
Israel cried out, “We want a king, so that we can be like all the nations around us.”
So God gave them a king – a man named Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin.
The poor old prophet was beside himself, knowing what would happen, but he obeyed the Lord.
He was apparently raised in a good religious home.
But eventually the power that he was given corrupted his morals, his heart and his judgment.
His problem was that he refused to submit himself to the will of Jehovah.
He felt that as king he could make himself a priest or even take Samuel’s position as God’s prophet.
But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”
And Daniel says, “The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”
And “Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:
He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.”
I will be thy king: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king & princes? I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.”
Perhaps he’s a picture of you.
We have been chosen by God to love and serve Him and even to lead others in that worship.
But we want to do it under our rules, not the Lord’s.
We listen to and respect the Bible only when it agrees with our feelings at the moments.
When it’s not convenient to serve the Lord, or obey the Lord, then God takes second place – or third.
And when we are rebuked by the prophet of God, it makes us angry rather than repentant.
In all likelihood I haven’t been nearly as harsh as Samuel or John the Baptist would have been.
And I haven’t been as diligent in this as all of us have deserved.
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king;
To whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse,
A man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.”
As I was meditating on this earlier this week, I had to wonder if perhaps the Lord had intended to give Israel a king all along.
Was or wasn’t David a necessary cog in the machinery which eventually brought us the Messiah?
Would the Lord have given Israel their best and final king without first giving them the forerunner king in the son of Jesse?
Once again, God sovereignly chose the youngest son of a Bethlehemite, named Jesse, to be king and to replace sinful Saul.
David was the eighth son of the family, and in some ways the least significant of them all.
Samuel was sent by the Lord to anoint the future king, but as his eye scanned the choices that Jesse gave him, even he was at first mistaken about the Lord’s will.
“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on [Eliab’s] countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
Of course, there have been hundreds of books written about the life and character of David.
His story is recorded in chapter after chapter of several books of the Bible.
He deserves weeks and months of study.
And yet what Paul said was really significant and at the core of David’s heart.
God said that David was “a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.”
This describes only a tiny percentage of humanity, but it should describe us.
And this is what marks the difference between king Saul and king David.
Very simply, David was not rebellious.
The Lord had given that young man a new heart, a regenerated heart and David loved the Lord.
It wasn’t that David didn’t sin, because the Bible vividly, sickeningly, details some of David’s sins.
David immediately fell on his face before the Lord and said, “I am a sinner.”
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.”
And it is not there by nature.
By nature we are all Sauls:
We may have above average morality and breeding.
We may be religious.
But we are all sinners by nature.
They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood:
Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known:
There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
And this describes all of us by nature; this describes YOU.
This describes your beloved grandmother.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
He was a man after God’s own heart, and still is.
He is in the presence of his Saviour at this very moment.
And David’s heart condition proves itself in Paul’s next statement:
The man after God’s own heart is quick to do the Lord’s will.
When he sees it in the Word of God his obedience is automatic.
And when he doesn’t see it in the Bible, he seeks it in the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
This kind of person hates sin because God hates sin.
In Ps. 139:23, David prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.”
He prays: “Not my will, but thine be done.”
Noone should say that he is a Christian, or that he is a child of God and a citizen of Heaven, whose life doesn’t bear some resemblance to David’s.
That we’ll sin just as David did, will no doubt be true.
But that we’ll have tender and obedient hearts like David will also be true.
As Paul made his brief exposition of Israel’s history, he mentioned Saul and then David.
I think that he deliberately wanted to contrast those two kings.
And Paul, “Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.”
In II Samuel 7:12 the Lord said to David,
Which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.”
It is sometimes argued that the fulfillment of God’s promise was in David’s son Solomon,
As in Jeremiah 23:5: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”
That righteous branch and king is the Lord Jesus.
Paul mentioned his Benjamite namesake to bring him into contrast with David.
But he mentioned David to introduce the greatest son of David, Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour.
I notice that Paul didn’t pull any punches in this case; he simply called Him “Jesus.”
Mary and Joseph were told to call Mary’s baby “Jesus, because he shall save His people from their sins.”
“Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus.”
And how did Jesus accomplish that salvation?
The King of Kings gave himself as a ransom for his subjects.
He relinquished His life in order that He could give eternal, spiritual life to His citizens.
He yielded His heart to the spear that His people might have new hearts.
Jesus, the Son of God, gave His life in order to conquer sinners, turn them into saints, and give them hearts to become His willing subjects.
David, the son of Jesse, was a king like unto the Lord Jesus, but Jesus is a king like no other.
And to become a citizen of His kingdom, requires only a repentant heart placed at the foot of His cross.
There is no courthouse or governmental office where this can be done.
You must bow before the King, and bow before that initial throne.
He will never be your true King, sitting upon his glorious throne, until you have submitted to Him hanging upon the cross.
That was what Paul was telling the people in that Antioch synagogue,
And that is my God-given message to you this morning.